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Reformed Political Party
The Reformed Political Party is a Protestant based political party in the Free Democratic Union of Kirlawa. Formation In 2312 the Catholic population of Kirlawa found representation in the Veritan Catholic Church, a Party dedicated to representing its community, and defending Catholic social values in Kirlawa. Political commentators were surprised by the rise of such a Party in the largely secular Kirlawa, however were even more shocked by the breakdown of electoral support, which appeared to indiciate that even some Protestant communities had been willing to vote for the pro-Christian agenda of the VCC. With the continued success of the VCC in the general election of 2314, several Protestant organisations moved to create a political party that would represent their community, and defend the various Protestant sects from anti-religious sentiments. Thus on the First of January 2315, the Reformed Political Party was formed, with 75 delegates from across Kirlawa, representing the main Protestant denominations, electing Pastor Jan Kees as their leader. Organisation The highest organ of the RPP is the congress, it is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year and appoints the party board. The Party Board is responsible for overseeing the running of the Party, and also the formulation of policy. The party has 245 municipal branches and slightly over 400,000 members and has a provincial federation in each province. The Party also contests elections at the regional level, however only in the Bible Belt and Nuchtmark do they currently have any strength. They contest elections under the name of Evangelical Peoples Party in Nuchtmark. In the other regions the local Party is known as either the Reformed Party (Dirlana, Dirguzia and Merkan), or Christian Union (Uwukah). Leadership The RPP is run by the Board, however it's deputies within the House of Representatives are led by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Party, who is currently André Rouvoet. He is the most influential member of the Party and often the main media contact, being the main spokesman of the party in and out of the House of Representatives. In the election of 2315, the RPP also ran a candidate for the Head of State, however the Board at the meeting of the Party Congress in 2319 decided that they would not do this again, preferring to run purely in the legislative and regional elections. List of Chairpersons * Jan Kees - January 2315 - July 2319 * André Rouvoet - July 2319 - July 2333 * John Knox - July 2333 - July 2336 Policies The RPP broadly operates an ideology of Christian Democracy. Broadly speaking, Christian Democracy is conservative in regard to moral and cultural issues, and issues of public morality and tradition. It can be described as left-wing insofar as it claims a "strong social conscience", in the sense of emphasizing the alleviation of poverty, the welfare state, and if necessary the restraint of market forces. The RPP aims to encourage a conservative morality, based upon the teachings of the Bible, and aims to protect the existence of religious schools within Kirlawa. Internationally the RPP has proposed to remove immigration restrictions, and aslo campaigns against militarism within the nation. Support The Reformed Political Party receives the bulk of its support from Protestants in Kirlawa. Two principle types of Protestant community stand out as followers of the RPP. Firstly rural Protestants, particularly in an area of central Kirlawa known as the Bible Belt. These supporters tend to follow strict Calvinist Churches, and are conservative, religious, and often believers in large government intervention in society, both morally and economically. The second strand are the Protestants of Nuchtmark and Uwakah. They tend to be urbanised, progressive, secular, capitalist and specifically in Nuchtmark, anti-Catholic. These two types come together in the RPP, forming two often-opposing wings, which leads to much debate within the Party, but also causes the Party to aim for a centrist compromise in policy making. July 2319 Shift The general election of May 2319 brought gains of 19 seats in the House of Representatives and 4 new Senators, for the Reformed Political Party. However the distribution of these gains were not even, and although the Party gained 18 seats in the core regions of the Bible Belt, if only managed to make one gain in the other two provinces. Traditionally those within the Bible Belt regions were socially conservative, and economically interventionist. In Nuchtmark and Uwakah however their supporters and parliamentary delegates were traditionally socially liberal and economically capitalist. In the general elections of 2315 and 2317, the socially liberal wing of the Party held power within the party, dominating the Parliamentary party, the Party Congress, the Party Board, and the general membership of the Party. However the election of 2319 signalled an important shift in the Party, as the conservative wing of the Party gained control. In the annual meeting of the Congress conservative delegates were able to elect a governing Board composed largely of conservatives, and were able to remove Jan Kees from his position as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Party, replacing him with André Rouvoet, who was a representative from Dirlana, now the strongest single region for the Party. 2320’s and Decline The 2322 elections signalled an advance for the RPP as its secured its best results yet, however the following two years led to a vicious outbreak of infighting within the party. Throughout the next ten years the party’s vote was reduced at each election. Attempts to provide a popular platform failed, as both economic liberalism and socialism were tried in a bid to appeal to various elements of the population. Despite successive defeats, André Rouvoet was able to maintain control of the Party, helped in part by the lack of suitable candidates for the position. The party was able to retain some prestige, as it became a party of government, enjoying inclusion in the centrist government. By 2332 the party had reached its lowest point, receiving just 44 seats in the House of Representatives and just four Senators in the Senate. Revival However events following the 2332 election worked to the advantage of the RPP. The collapse of the Catholic Party led to a gain of 15 for the RPP in the following general election. Although the Catholic Party may have appeared an odd thing for Protestants to vote for, it was widely believed that more Protestants voted for it than voted for the RPP, due to the social conservatism of the Catholic Party. Thus its decline provided an influx of Protestants to the RPP, albeit conservative ones which once more tipped the RPP back to social conservatism. The RPP in Uwakah, led by Jan Hoopen, were prominant in this shift to the right on social issues, and Hoopner led the successful move in July 2333 to remove André Rouvoet from his position as Chairperson of the party. However rather than take the position for himself he preferred to replac Rouvoet with the more firmly right-wing John Knox. This restored the position of the party nationally, and led to them making gains of 23 seats in the House of Representatives in March 2336. Civil War, Division and the Hoopenists With the outbreak of civil war, the Party was effectively torn between democratic, fascist and pro-Dorvish factions. Whilst former leader Rouvoet chose to remain loyal to democratic forces in Dirlana, the conservative Knox aligned himself and his followers, largely in Nuchtmark, with the fascists, and Hoopen, with his clique of largely Episcopalian followers chose to back the traditional defender of Protestant Kirlawa, Dorvik. This split became more pronounced when Rouvoet and Knox effectively shutdown the RPP regional movements in their respective states, leaving the Hoopenists as the sole section of the Reformed Political Party to remain in any government within Kirlawa. In 2342 Hoopenists in Dorvish-Uwakah split between the Artanian Socialists and the Uwakan Block. In the Free Union of Kirlawa the RPP became the Democratic Reform Party and in Nuchtmark and the Democratic Republic of Kirlawa minor Protestant parties existed, but were repressed by the respective fascist and communist governments. 2342 can be seen as the date that the RPP finally disappeared as a political entity. Elections House of Representatives Senate Elections Presidential elections Governments Below are a list of the governments that the RPP have been involved in. *March 2322 - April 2325 http://80.237.164.51/particracy/main/viewbill.php?billid=89902 ::::::: *April 2325 - http://80.237.164.51/particracy/main/viewbill.php?billid=90934 ::::::: See Also * Episcopal Church of Kirlawa * The Kirlawa Bible Belt * Hoopenists Category:Reformed Political Party